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Children's Museum of Denver announces massive expansion

The Children's Museum of Denver will double in size and has purchased and leased land around it that could allow the attraction to expand again.

The New Children's Museum of Denver and Outdoor Experience. (Provided by Children s Museum of Denver)

The $15.8 million project announced Tuesday will include the construction of two new wings and the development of eight new interactive exhibits. About $13.3 million has been raised so far, including a major gift from the Cydney and Tom Marsico Family Foundation.

Although officials declined to specify how much the Marsico foundation donated beyond saying the gift is "$1 million or more," the museum will be renamed "Children's Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus" when the project is completed in late 2015.

At the groundbreaking — where a crew of little kids in yellow hard hats turned dirt with plastic shovels — CEO Mike Yankovich said expansion is critical to the museum's mission of introducing young learners to math, science, the arts and literacy in "unique and engaging ways."

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Yankovich said after four decades, the museum simply doesn't have enough room for the growing number of "young scientists, explorers, artists and inventors" that visit daily.

Attendance has grown 74 percent in the last decade, to 350,000 visitors in 2013.

Bruce DeBoskey, whose DeBoskey Group advises foundations, corporations and families making philanthropic investments, said the giving environment has improved tremendously over the past two years. Many foundations have recovered losses logged in 2008 and 2009, which makes them able to give more money away, he said.

"I'm seeing more optimism and more willingness to make philanthropic investments in important projects and social change," DeBoskey said. "We are seeing this because people have their confidence back."

DeBoskey said the Children's Museum of Denver is the type of investment that is particularly attractive to donors.

"They've proven their value over time," he said. "What donors are looking for, more than ever, are social investments that are making a difference. In the niche that the Children's Museum fills, they are making a tremendous difference in the lives of the kids of our community."

The new exhibits — including a teaching kitchen, an energy exhibit where rockets and hot-air balloons can be launched and a 3½-story climbing structure intended to evoke the adventure and geographic diversity of Colorado — will help encourage 21st century skills "
like creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making," Yankovich said, while also helping to "empower and build confidence in our children, encourage creative expression and promote good health."

The project includes the acquisition of 4.1 acres of land from Denver Public Schools and a lease-purchase deal for 1.5 acres from Denver Parks and Recreation. The museum, located west of Elitch Gardens amusement park, previously owned only its footprint and part of an adjacent parking lot.